Powering critical climate conversations at UNiting Business LIVE
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More than 50 of Australia's most senior sustainability voices spent two days in Sydney working through the hardest questions in front of business right now: net-zero transitions, supply chain resilience, First Nations leadership, the Australian opportunity around COP31. Contented was there to make sure those critical conversations didn't evaporate when the sessions ended.
The UN Global Compact Network Australia's UNiting Business LIVE Australia 2026 brought together international and Australian leaders across CEO panels, fireside chats and keynotes. Contented was a partner for the event, with the UN team using our platform to record every session, then turn each one into key takeaways, quotes, metrics and insights, to share and feed into reports. Co-founder Hannah Hardy-Jones and Regional business lead Lexi Eddington-Smith got to be part of the engine room making it happen.
It was an especially meaningful conference to be part of because right from the early days of Contented, Hannah and Lucy have been open about what kind of company we're building. The vision was never to be another productivity tool, it was to be part of the world's most important conversations, making sure the value in those conversations is captured and amplified.
Hannah talked about the UN specifically on the When the Facts Change podcast:
"We see ourselves being part of the world's most important conversations. For example the United Nations, how effectively are some of these incredible talks and sessions being captured, and is anything actually really being done deeply with them?"
UNiting Business LIVE Australia 2026 saw this ambition realised. Across two days, panels, fireside chats and keynotes were recorded, transcribed and turned into shareable insights almost as fast as the words were spoken. The conversations got out into the world. They went into reports. They reached people who weren't in the room. The value didn't end when the session did, which is the whole point.
Our Sustainable Development Goal.
As part of our partnership for the event, we selected a Sustainable Development Goal to align with. Number nine was the obvious choice: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. Sustainable growth and equal opportunities stall when knowledge doesn't travel. UNiting Business LIVE Australia exists to close the gap between ambition and action by getting the right people talking and making sure those conversations lead somewhere. We were there to help with the second part of that equation.
A glimpse of what was in the room.
The conversations across the two days reflected the urgency and seriousness of the moment. Here are some of the key takeaways from a powerful two days of sessions:
Robert Swan, explorer and founder of the 2041 Foundation, returned to a theme that ran through much of the conference: sustainability isn't a parallel conversation to business strategy any more, it is business strategy. As he put it:
"If you make a commitment, deliver on it, because that's what we all need to do."
Nicki Hutley, Councillor at the Climate Council, was direct about Australia's options on energy transition. The country has untapped renewable energy manufacturing opportunities that could capture more value from raw materials while reducing global emissions, but only if the political will to back them shows up:
"I don't want to see new gas fields here. I want to see green iron. Let's have the industries of the future, not the industries of the past."
A theme that surfaced repeatedly was that the transition itself can only work if people are at the heart of how it's designed. Workers, communities, and especially First Nations voices need a say in what's being built, not just a chair at the table after the fact. Sharan Burrow AC, Chair of Climateworks Centre, framed it bluntly:
"Take the time for dialogue. People are messy, but the permission slip to get this done is what business needs and certainly what investors need to mitigate risk."
And one of the most candid moments came from Christina Hobbs, General manager of advocacy at Future Group, on the difficulty of collective business action:
"Getting our individual companies to stick their head above water to push for some of these policies is incredibly difficult."
A useful reminder that overcoming policy gridlock takes coordination, not just good individual intentions.
What it meant for Contented.
Of all the moments captured across the two days, the line Lexi keeps coming back to was from Robert Swan again, this time on what good leadership actually looks like in practice:
"One of the greatest gifts that we can give in business is to give other people credibility. This is how you create responsibility and inspiration, by empowering people around you. And if you make commitments, deliver on it."
That's a fair description of why we built Contented in the first place. To empower the people having critical conversations by making sure the value in those conversations gets credit, and gets carried forward.
Events like this one are exactly where that mission shows up in practice. We were so proud to play our part in making sure these conversations didn't end when the sessions did, and we're looking ahead to more like this.